Bryan Singer criticized for celebrating 'Bohemian Rhapsody' Globes win: 'This movie didn’t almost get made because of your antics'
Bryan Singer isn’t going to let himself be written out of Bohemian Rhapsody‘s history.
The controversial director, who was fired from the film with just two weeks left, didn’t get mentioned when the cast and producers accepted the Best Motion Picture – Drama award at Sunday’s Golden Globes. The film’s star Rami Malek, who played Freddie Mercury, didn’t thank him, either. That didn’t stop Singer from thanking the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for the honor.
Singer, who is still credited as the film’s director due to Directors Guild of America rules, shared a photo of himself in his director’s seat on the set along with Malek and Ben Hardy, who played Roger Taylor. “What an honor,” he wrote. “Thank you #HollywoodForeignPress.”
What an honor. Thank you #HollywoodForeignPress
A post shared by Bryan Singer (@bryanjaysinger) on Jan 6, 2019 at 10:41pm PST
While there were plenty of congratulatory messages posted below (“BEST DIRECTOR OF ALL TIME,” was one of the first comments), it quickly got awkward, with people pointing out that Singer’s behind-the-scene drama almost cost the film from being made.
“How come everyone’s acting like you have nothing to do with it???” wrote user jbdelicious. “Where’s your nom??? Where’s your deserved attention and globe?” Someone replied, “He was fired,” and it was kind of on from there.
Someone who goes by nola_sippi_beef wrote, “This movie didn’t almost get made because of your antics” and said Singer’s “on his last leg with Hollywood.”
User bbelemjian posted, “I congratulate everyone who worked on the film and didn’t disappear for days at a time. You were fired for a reason.”
Derek.ism put: “Didn’t you get fired from this movie after like 3 weeks?”
And xxmanonf1rexx wrote, “Bro you didn’t even finish the movie. You better give Dexter,” referring to Dexter Fletcher, who stepped in as director, “the credit he deserves!”
As if that wasn’t enough to steal his sunshine, people started to post about sexual misconduct allegations against Singer. In December 2017, he was sued by a man claiming the director raped him when he was 17 years old. In 2014, he was also accused of rape in another lawsuit that was ultimately withdrawn. Singer has dismissed reports as “false accusations and bogus lawsuits.” Esquire magazine reportedly planned an exposé on Singer timed to the release of Bohemian Rhapsody but it never materialized.
Backstage at the Globes, Malek, who won for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, was asked about not mentioning Singer in his speech. “There was only one thing we needed to do, celebrate Freddie Mercury,” he replied. “He is a marvel. Nothing was going to compromise us. We’re giving him the love, celebration and adulation he deserves.”
Similarly, producer Graham King punted on the topic. “That’s not something we should talk about tonight,” he said. “Every single person collaborated and did [the film] out of passion [for] making this story. That was everybody.”
Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
